RJD2 has had quite the curious career. The Eugene, Ore., native lives in West Philly, has transitioned from dirty, jazzy hip hop to wonky electropop, leapt from El-P’s Def Jux label in 2004 after several critically acclaimed albums to his own RJ’s Electrical Connections in 2010 (with his The Third Hand LP at the XL label in between). Though he doesn’t think of himself as a film composer, he has one of the most recognizable theme songs ever: AMC’s Mad Men. Now, he’s changed his sound around completely with one of the most compelling albums of 2013 in More Is Than Isn’t. RJD2 will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with him.
RJD2: Probably considered an early electronic-music classic, this album is a longtime favorite of mine that still gets playing time. I mean this as the utmost in compliments: This album is very French sounding. Very easy to get lost in. Very textural. Often words can’t capture the magic of music, and this is a good example of that. I can’t describe it well—just give it a listen.
Video after the jump.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HJ2Q8GQwts
2 replies on “From The Desk Of RJD2: “Oxygène” By Jean Michel Jarre”
[…] Probably considered an early electronic-music classic, this album is a longtime favorite of mine that still gets playing time. I mean this as the utmost in compliments: This album is very French sounding. Very easy to get lost in. Very textural. Often words can’t capture the magic of music, and this is a good example of that. I can’t describe it well—just give it a listen. See more […]
I have to agree with Oxygène being very french sounding… It is somehow linked with a tradition of hero composers in the movie score era, like Delerue, Goraguer, de Roubaix, and has classical music favor.